The NBA announced Tuesday that Scottie Barnes will compete in the Taco Bell Skills Challenge and Fred VanVleet will participate in the MTN Dew 3-Point Contest, as part of State Farm All-Star Saturday Night on Saturday, Feb. 19 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland.
Barnes is averaging 14.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.4 rebounds and 36.1 minutes in 44 games this season. He leads all rookies in minutes per game, ranks second in rebounds and fourth in both scoring and assists. Barnes will become the fourth Raptor to appear in the Skills Challenge, along with DeMar DeRozan (2014), Kyle Lowry (2015) and Pascal Siakam (2020).
Under the new format for the Skills Challenge, three teams of three players will participate in a four-round competition that tests shooting, passing and dribbling ability. The two teams with the most “Challenge Points” after the first three rounds will advance to the Final Round. Challenge Points are earned by winning each of the first three rounds.
VanVleet will make his first All-Star Game appearance after being named a reserve last week. He is averaging career highs of 21.6 points, 7.1 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 38.6 minutes in 47 games this season. VanVleet is shooting .396 (185-467) from three-point range and ranks second in the NBA in three-pointer made. He joins Walt Williams (1997), Jason Kapono (2008-09), Kyle Lowry (2016-18) and Danny Green (2019) as the only players in franchise history to compete in the three-point contest.
The 3-Point Contest will again feature THE DEW ZONE, two deep shot locations positioned equidistant between the traditional racks at the top of the 3-point arc and the adjacent “wing” rack. Each of the two ball pedestals in THE DEW ZONE is located 6 feet behind the 3-point line and holds one special green ball, the “3-Ball.” Shots made with the green ball are worth three points.
In addition to THE DEW ZONE, the 3-Point Contest will have five main shooting locations: four racks containing four official NBA game balls (each worth one point) and one multicolored “money” ball (worth two points), and one special rack with all money balls. Each participant can place the rack with all money balls at any of the five main shooting locations. Every ball on this rack is worth two points.
Each competitor will have 70 seconds (1:10) to shoot as many as the 27 balls as he can, with a maximum possible score of 40 points in a round. The three competitors with the highest scores in the first round will advance to the championship round. The player with the highest score in the championship round will win the 3-Point Contest.